Star-Studded Prints at Swann

An impressive lot of seminal works from the dawn of printmaking in Europe is headed to the auction block via Swann Galleries late this fall. Find the iconic highlights here! Don’t drag your feet, however.

In just a few weeks, on November 2, Swann Galleries in New York will be hosting a major auction of prints circa 15th century through the modern era. The lots available represent some of the most iconic printmakers — and artists — in history, including Albrecht Dürer, Edward Hopper, Rembrandt, and Francisco José de Goya, to name a few.

Via Swann Galleries: “A powerful section of works by American artists in the first half of the twentieth century is led by Edward Hopper’s scarce and haunting etching, ‘The Lonely House,’ 1923, with an estimate of $150,000 to $200,000. Gritty, iconic views of working-class Manhattan by Hopper’s mentor Martin Lewis, including ‘Snow on the El,’ 1931, and ‘Relics (Speakeasy Corner),’1928 (each with a value of $40,000 to $60,000), are complemented by works executed during his Depression-era stay in the suburbs with friend and fellow artist Armin Landeck. Regionalists Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood and Paul Landacre are well-represented with pastoral scenes evoking the anxiety of encroaching technology.

Edward Hopper, “The Lonely House,” 1923, etching, 8 x 10 inches

“A run of works by Pablo Picasso includes myriad media from all periods of his decades-long career. The aquatint and etching ‘Faune dévoilant une femme,’ 1934, is valued at $80,000 to $120,000, while ‘La Grande Corrida, aven Femme Torero,’ an etching of the same year, is expected to sell between $70,000 and $100,000.

“Seminal works from the dawn of printmaking in Europe include such iconic works as Israel van Meckenem’s engraving, ‘The Dance of the Daughters of Herodias,’ circa 1480, with an estimate of $80,000 to $120,000. A run of scarce and powerful works by the master of engraving Albrecht Dürer is led by ‘The Nemesis,’circa 1501-02, estimated at $80,000 to $120,000. Additional early prints by the visionary include ‘Coat-of-Arms with a Skull,’ 1503, and ‘The Sea Monster,’ before 1500 ($50,000 to $80,000 and $40,000 to $60,000, respectively). An after-print of Heironymus Bosch’s engraving ‘The Temptation of St. Anthony,’ 1561, replete with distended frogs and damned souls, is valued at $40,000 to $60,000. Works by Pieter Bruegel, Hans Baldung Grien, Augustin Hirschvogel and Lucas van Leyden — the latter’s 1510 engraving ‘Ecce Homo’ is valued at $40,000 to $60,000 — will also be available.

Odilon Redon, “Arbre,” 1892, lithograph, 18 3/4 x 12 1/2 inches

“Etchings covering a variety of subjects by Rembrandt van Rijn, with portraits, nudes and landscapes, are led by the 1633 etching ‘Self Portrait in a Cap and Scarf with the Face Dark: Bust,’ at $30,000 to $50,000. Francisco José de Goya is well-represented in the sale with lithographs and portfolios, including the limited first edition of‘Los Caprichos,’ circa 1799, complete with 80 etchings with aquatint, condemning the foibles of the aristocracy and clergy, which carries an estimate of $70,000 to $100,000. Also from the eighteenth century come two works by the master of English faunal portraits, George Stubbs: the 1788 mezzotint ‘A Sleeping Cheetah,’ and an engraving with stippling, etching and roulette from the same year, ‘A Horse Frightened by a Lion,’ each with an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000.

“Nineteenth-century works include James Ensor’s hand-colored etching, ‘La Vengeance de Hop-Frog,’ 1898, a macabre scene probably based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, in which Hop-Frog the jester hangs tarred, flaming noblemen on a chandelier. Ensor’s prints are often extensively hand-colored with watercolor and gouache, making each a unique work of art; this one has an estimate of $60,000 to $90,000. Another work by Goya, ‘Picador Caught by a Bull,’ 1825, was likely an experimental lithograph for ‘Los Toros de Burdeos’ ($80,000 to $120,000). Also available are works by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and Odilon Redon, whose 1892 lithograph ‘Arbre’ is expected to sell between $50,000 and $80,000.

“A strong selection of works by German Expressionists is led by the 1912 woodcut ‘Prophet,’ by Emil Nolde, and Edvard Munch’s 1902 etching ‘Puberty,’ each with a value of $30,000 to $50,000. A rare woodcut by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, ‘Frau im Stuhl,’ 1913, carries an estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. Across the border in Austria, Egon Schiele created the drypoint ‘Kümmernis’ in 1914; in this sale, it is valued at $12,000 to $18,000.”

Andrew Webster is the Editor of Fine Art Today and works as an editorial and creative marketing assistant for Streamline Publishing. Andrew graduated from The University of North Carolina at Asheville with a B.A. in Art History and Ceramics. He then moved on to the University of Oregon, where he completed an M.A. in Art History. Studying under scholar Kathleen Nicholson, he completed a thesis project that investigated the peculiar practice of embedded self-portraiture within Christian imagery during the 15th and early 16th centuries in Italy.